Agency ordered to give fire victims housing

Published: Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 8:45 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 10, 2014 at 11:23 a.m.

A single mother and her four children who were displaced after a fire damaged her public housing apartment Saturday will get a place to live despite an earlier denial.

The Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority, which runs the low-income Senator Circle public housing complex, is required to provide housing to Charleta Lyons and her children — ages 17, 14, 11 and 9, federal Housing and Urban Development spokesman Patricia Campbell said Thursday.

The Red Cross and family members have been paying for the family to stay temporarily in a Houma hotel.

Lyons had planned to move to a homeless shelter Friday.

“You don’t know what a relief it is,” Lyons said Thursday. “Because I was in a hotel for five days, and I just didn’t know what to do.”

Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority Director Wayne Thibodeaux said Wednesday the agency had no plans to give the family shelter before Houma Fire Department officials determine who was responsible the blaze at 234B Senator Circle.

Until that happened, he said, “I have determined that we don’t have an obligation. She has family.”

Fire Inspector Mike Millet said the investigation had come to a dead end, and fire officials may never know who is to blame.

“They are responsible for providing housing to Ms. Lyons when her housing assistance provided by Red Cross ends on Saturday,” she said. “In the absence of available housing at the housing authority, the public housing authority is still responsible to provide adequate housing for its residents.”

Thibodeaux couldn’t be reached Thursday for comment.

The terms of Lyons’ lease say if “the dwelling unit is rendered uninhabitable by circumstances beyond the resident’s control,” the Housing Authority must provide the resident another dwelling unit “on a temporary basis, until the damaged unit is fixed.”

If the damage were determined to be Lyons’ fault, the lease gives the Housing Authority the right to deny her another apartment and to require her to reimburse the agency for the cost of repairs to her old one.

<p>A single mother and her four children who were displaced after a fire damaged her public housing apartment Saturday will get a place to live despite an earlier denial.</p><p>The Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority, which runs the low-income Senator Circle public housing complex, is required to provide housing to Charleta Lyons and her children — ages 17, 14, 11 and 9, federal Housing and Urban Development spokesman Patricia Campbell said Thursday.</p><p>The Red Cross and family members have been paying for the family to stay temporarily in a Houma hotel.</p><p>Lyons had planned to move to a homeless shelter Friday.</p><p>“You don't know what a relief it is,” Lyons said Thursday. “Because I was in a hotel for five days, and I just didn't know what to do.”</p><p>Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority Director Wayne Thibodeaux said Wednesday the agency had no plans to give the family shelter before Houma Fire Department officials determine who was responsible the blaze at 234B Senator Circle. </p><p>Until that happened, he said, “I have determined that we don't have an obligation. She has family.”</p><p>Fire Inspector Mike Millet said the investigation had come to a dead end, and fire officials may never know who is to blame.</p><p>Thibodeaux's decision contradicts the federal agency's policies, Campbell said. </p><p>“They are responsible for providing housing to Ms. Lyons when her housing assistance provided by Red Cross ends on Saturday,” she said. “In the absence of available housing at the housing authority, the public housing authority is still responsible to provide adequate housing for its residents.”</p><p>Thibodeaux couldn't be reached Thursday for comment.</p><p>The terms of Lyons' lease say if “the dwelling unit is rendered uninhabitable by circumstances beyond the resident's control,” the Housing Authority must provide the resident another dwelling unit “on a temporary basis, until the damaged unit is fixed.”</p><p>If the damage were determined to be Lyons' fault, the lease gives the Housing Authority the right to deny her another apartment and to require her to reimburse the agency for the cost of repairs to her old one.</p>